Lawmaker Inching Toward Regulation of Violent Videogames?

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Lawmaker Inching Toward Regulation of Violent Videogames?

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) has taken Congress' first step in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre toward possibly regulating access to violent videogames.

Calls for gun control immediately followed the elementary-school shooting Friday, so it was only a matter of time before violent videogames became another target.

Rockefeller is proposing that the National Academy of Sciences study the relationship between real-world violence and virtual-world violence in videogames. Reading between the lines, the idea is to perhaps acquire conclusive fodder, if there is any, from this prestigious group of scientists that there is an association between the two.

With that in pocket, state or federal legislation just might withstand Supreme Court scrutiny, or at least spur lawmakers to act.

"Recent court decisions demonstrate that some people still do not get it. They believe that violent videogames are no more dangerous to young minds than classic literature or Saturday morning cartoons. Parents, pediatricians, and psychologists know better," he said in a statement. "These court decisions show we need to do more and explore ways Congress can lay additional groundwork on this issue. This report will be a critical resource in this process."